Craft Beer: 4 Packs >>>

Ahhhhh the 6 pack, a lofty goal to many fitness enthusiasts and a man's best friend to many others.  The Beer Nut is a local blogger, based out of the Worcester, MA area.  He talks all things craft beer, and I frankly almost always agree with both his tastes and his points of view regarding the industry.  Recently, he posted about his gripes regarding 6 pack pricing.  I tend to agree with this view.  It is neither a large enough quantity to warrant a significant discount or a small enough quantity to warrant the increased price.  Unfortunately, it is the most popular distribution model for craft beer.

I tend to prefer purchasing single bottles or 22oz "bombers" when I only want to try something.  That way, I don't get stuck with 5 bottles of beer that are mediocre.  If I want to pick up something for sessions, I am probably going to go with a craft beer that is available in 12 packs, which offer significant savings for a small quantity increase.  Great for a long weekend, and not so many beers that you are inundated with beer, like with a case of four 6 packs.

However, my personal favorite is the four pack.  It is a large enough quantity that you are able to sample a beer multiple times, but not a commitment to six.  I typically only have one or two beers a night, so this is an appropriate amount for me to sample over several days or even weeks.  I understand that I will be facing a premium, but for the beers that typically come in four packs, which are made with often better or more ingredients and resulting higher gravity, the value is there.  There are tons of $10 six packs that I am not interested in, in the slightest, while a $10 4 pack means just $2.50 for each great beer.  It is the superior distribution model.

I always love the Sixpoint 4 packs, recently picked up several Green Flash 4 packs, and another favorite New England Brewing Ghandi Bot comes in 4 packs, when you can find it.  Let's support this movement with our wallets!

Momentum

Steve Kamb, the fantastic blogger and world-traveler behind Nerd Fitness, posted an article yesterday that really hit home with me. Titled "The Mario Kart Guide to Momentum," Steve talks about how lately he has been slacking on strength training.  I can relate to that, as I have recently moved, continued studying for my CFA, helped house and cat sit for 2 weeks, and my gym membership expired.  In addition to that, my eBay business has been doing quite well, all on top of my normal hectic work schedule!

For all that, I have continued to stay on track with my diet and eating habits, as the article says, this is the equivalent of capturing coins.  Diet is responsible for 80-90% of your weight loss/gain, and like getting the coins consistently, it will get you most of the way there.  However, to really get an edge, you need to hit the boxes and powerups, which he considers strength training.  I have been trying to stay active by walking and being on my feet on the weekends, but that's really just like grabbing coins, or leaving banana peels (maintaining).  I need to get back to my strength training routine to build muscle and burn up some extra calories.

I totally recommend you check out Nerd Fitness, as it is a great site, and this article in particular showcases the tone and content of the blog.  My wife and I are also huge fans of Mario Kart, particularly the N64 and Wii versions!

Although I have been keeping up with my mostly paleo diet, my notable exception is good craft beer.

Green Flash Le Freak: a little heavy for a Belgian IPA at 9.2% ABV.  Excellent beer, but a little too much for a weekday.

Green Flash Friendship Brew with St. Feullien: Interesting "Black Saison" seems a little hot, could maybe use a few more months of age.  Don't know if it will last that long though!

Sixpoint Brownstone: Hoppy brown ale, fantastic beer.  Good deal at $10/4pk

Craft Beer Update

I have been trying and tasting a number of new beers lately, as usual.  This time I made sure to document each one of them and I will give you a quick writeup/opinion/comment on each one.  So without further ado...



Berkshire Brewing Company - Goodnight Irene - I had mentioned tasting this at BBC's brewery before and it tastes just as excellent bottled.  For $3.99 with a portion of profits going to charity, the value can't be beat.  BBC specializes in English style ales, but this is an attempt at a West Coast (American) hop-forward IPA.  It is well executed, like the Franklin County Land Trust Preservation Ale.  I do, unfortunately, believe that the hops have faded, ever so slightly.



Full Sail Brewing - Elevation DIPA - This brewery is not one that I am particularly familiar with, although I have heard good things about their lagers which come in stubby Red Stripe bottles.  This Imperial IPA may be past best drank by date, as it is bottled in 2011.  I didn't see that while at the store picking it up, but hops had faded significantly, so I do not feel a review would truly represent the beer.  It looked nice though!



Sierra Nevada - Bigfoot (2012) - Fresh Bigfoot is one of my favorite barleywines.  The hops are right in your face, but taste fresh and delicious.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good aged malty alcohol laden barleywine, but this beer is superb fresh from being bottled!



Pretty Things - Lovely Saint Winefrede - Pretty Things of MA's newest brew is called a Euro Dark Lager, which is certainly not one of my most commonly sampled styles.  This beer really delivers though, the dark, roasted qualities, mix with a hoppy finish, and present a complex but extremely drinkable brew.  Pretty Things never misses, and I recommend picking up a bomber if you have access! (Whatup Stephen Colbert)



Ommegang - Hennepin - I have had this excellent saison many times before, but have not mentioned here on the interwebs.  It is one of my favorite, easily accessible, American saisons, it is in the mid 7% ABV so it packs a punch, but it is definitely a great thirst quenching beer.  I detect a lot more citrusy lemony zest than in other saisons, which is the only thing holding me back from saying this is a perfect saison.



Slumbrew - Porter Square Porter - named after Somerville/Cambridge's Porter square this local porter is one of my absolute favorite new beers.  Smuttynose' Robust Porter is still the best value on the market, but Slumbrew's offering is certainly superior, if not much more expensive.  They use local chocolatier Taza's cacao nibs to impart even more chocolatey flavor with the dark malts.  Excellent desert or cold weather beer.



Sixpoint - Resin DIPA - I had been looking forward to this beer a lot after enjoying all of Sixpoint's other offerings including Autumnation and Diesel.  This left a little to be desired.  I really enjoyed the Red Bull cans that the beer came in, and as a hop-head, the ~9% ABV hop loaded beer tickled my senses.  My issues were that I had expected a west coast style IPA, which is a lot lighter, as you can see this beer is dark and the malts are definitely present.  Maybe my hopes were too high, but I was slightly disappointed with this brew.



Peak Organic - Simcoe Spring Ale - I am a sucker for beers that display the hop type, especially if that hop happens to be Nugget, Simcoe, or Citra!  This is certainly a pale ale, not an IPA, but the delicious Simcoe hops still shine through.  I believe this is fresh as it is the first I have seen or heard of this beer, so that may be a factor.  It is nothing like an IPA or DIPA, so make sure to temper your expectations, but this is a solid offering from Maine's Peak Organic.

Recent Beers

 

Port Brewing: High Tide "Fresh Hop" IPA - This beer is extremely hoppy, even though it was brewed early October.  It's been over a month, but the fresh hops are still extremely noticeable.  The color is quite light and hazy, with an aggressive head.  First whiff of the beer is pure piney hops.  The beer is bitter, as it is an IPA and the alcohol is noticeable although it is only 6.5% ABV.  A delicious beer for sure.

 

Sixpoint: Diesel -  This is a seasonal offering from Brooklyn based Sixpoint.  It comes in 16oz bomber 4 packs, and I paid $8.99.  Although they consider this beer a stout it is 62 IBU's and uses fresh hops.   This beer is nearly a Black IPA it is so hoppy, but there is a solid stout backbone to it as well.  The beer looks great, extremely dark with a foamy head.  The smell is roasted coffee and piney hops.  Very drinkable.

 

Trader Joes: 2011 Vintage Ale - This delicious Belgian Strong Dark Ale is brewed for Trader Joe's by Unibroue in Quebec, Canada, the famous makers of Belgian style ales.  This corked and caged 750ml bottle is a bargain at $4.99 while supplies last at TJ's locations.  Although the beer clocks in at 9% ABV it is approachable.  The beer is very dark and has lots of spices and dark fruits like other BSDAs.  Not the most amazing or complex beer, but a bargain at this price point.

  

Harpoon: Munich Type Dark - An excellent Munich Dunkel Lager from local brewer Harpoon.  This came in the Winter mixed 12 pack and was my favorite beer.  Don't have tasting notes, but I enjoyed it!

Sixpoint Autumnation Review

Sixpoint is an awesome brewery based in New York City.  I had tasted their stuff several years ago when I was in the city, since they were draft only at the time.  This past year they began to start selling their beer outside of the home NYC market.  I am lucky enough to live in one of the regions where they began distributing, and I have tasted all of their beers so far.  One of the things I like about the brewery is that they sell all their beer in 16oz cans in 4pks.  I like this better than a 12oz bottle 6pk by a significant margin.  I sometimes feel like 12oz is too little and 22oz is too much, and 16oz is perfect.  Cans are far superior to bottles, praying this continues to catch on. 

This beer is extremely unique.  It is a wet-hopped pumpkin beer.  I barely detected pumpkin, although there is a good amount of ginger and spices.  These all take a back seat to the glorious hops.  The beer is grassy, green, and delicious, using freshly harvested hops added directly to the boil.  The result is a "Fall IPA" beer that is incredibly "fresh" taking and drinkable.  I do think this beer is polarizing, and there will be people who either like it, or strongly dislike it, not much in between.   Available for only a short time, due to limited availability of the hops.  I am looking forward to their next release, Diesel, and apparently a Saison is in future developments.